The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 7 - Rituals 533
and hold a bunch of evergreen in their right hands. Then, they are blindfolded
and led to the Court room door, on which the Junior Attendant gives one rap.
The Senior Attendant informs the Most Ancient Matron that while their
"Court is working in Friendship and Harmony" (p. 20), there is an alarm at the
door. The Junior Attendant announces the newcomers with ".... who have long
been in chaos and now seek to be given light and to receive all the rights and
benefits of this Worthy Court erected to God and dedicated to the Holy Virgin
Mary" (p. 20). This corresponds to the Craft's "seeking light," the climax of
chaos being added, which is reminiscent of the Scottish Rite formula Ordo ab
Chao. The condition of the candidates prior to initiation thus is not only
darkness, but also, even worse, utter chaos. When the Junior Attendant has
affirmed to the Senior Attendant that the candidates are Master Mason's
daughters of good report and vouched for, the Senior Attendant reports this to
the Most Ancient Matron, and they are admitted.
The Senior Attendant goes to open the door and leads the candidates once
around the Court room (cf. p. 21), which is their first Masonic travel. During
their march, a suitable song is sung in low voice. They stop in front of the Most
Ancient Matron's throne in the East, and the latter reads to them the Biblical
passage from Mark, 11, which relates how Christ's disciples fetched the colt for
him, on which he rode into Jerusalem, while the people cast branches and their
garments before him and cried "Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord." (p. 22).
Then, the Senior Attendant asks the Worshipful Joshua to put the candidates
in position for further instructions, and he causes them to kneel and to put their
right hand on the Bible, which is opened at John, 12, and to touch their left
shoulder with their left hand (p. 22). The candidates repeat their obligation after
the Worshipful Joshua, and then kiss the Bible as a token of their earnestness (p.
23) and as a seal to their obligation. Hereafter, they are asked what they most
desire in their present condition, and the answer of the candidate is: "I wish to
see the faithful of the City of Jericho." (p. 23). In Craft Masonry, the answer
would have been "light." The Most Ancient Matron asks the Sisters and Brethren
to stretch forth their hands, in order to bring the newly adopted sister to light, and
they all form a circle around the kneeling candidate and the altar (p. 23). Then
follows the Biblical verse, "And the Lord God said (sic) let there be light and
there was light" (p. 23), and the sisters give the "shock of enlightenment" by
clapping their hands at the moment when the Senior Attendant removes the
candidate's blind. Hereafter, the new sister who is now "adopted to the Royal
Court of the faithful" (p. 23), is assisted to rise and obtains the secret work 1490 .
The "true word," accompanied by the "true grip," is MARY; the examiner and
the examined sister take it in turns to spell it, beginning with any letter. The
1490 Although the secrets are exposed on a leaflet enclosed in the ritual, we will conceal them for
reasons of protection of the order, except for some explicit signs which are needed for description.
They will be mentioned at the end of this chapter, so as not to reveal of which degree they form a
part. Each of the three degrees has its own Hailing Sign. The Grand Hailing Sign employs almost
the same text as the Craft's Grand Hailing Sign, namely: "My Lord [sic] is there no help for a
Heroine of Jericho?" Several signs are made with the help of a handkerchief.